Modi urges BRICS to push for UNSC, IMF reforms

Modi said the bloc was meeting at a time when the world was facing a high level of turmoil.

PM Narendra Modi with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in Fortaleza on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday sought to rally the BRICS grouping (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to push for reform of the United Nations Security Council and the International Monetary Fund.

Modi said the bloc was meeting at a time when the world was facing a high level of turmoil and uncertainty amidst persisting global economic weakness. “Institutions like the UN Security Council and IMF need urgent reform. They must become more representative and reflect ground realities,” he said addressing the Sixth BRICS Summit on “political coordination: international governance and regional crises”.

Presenting a grim global scenario on both the economic and security front, he said Afghanistan was facing an uncertain future, African countries faced challenges of security and development, West Asia posed a grave threat to regional and global peace, Syria continued to cause serious concern, and pointed out the recent outbreak of violence between Israel and Palestine.

These conflicts were causing grave instability that was fast seeping borders, Modi noted. “This impacts us all. Remaining mute spectators to countries being torn up in this manner can have grave consequences,” he warned.

“Terrorism is a threat that has assumed war-like proportions…,” Modi said, adding that BRICS must translate its political resolve into a concrete and coordinated plan of action.

Stating that the theme of the Sixth BRICS Summit of inclusive growth was also his government’s agenda, Modi said the agreement towards setting up the BRICS New Development Bank was a significant step.

“The agreement on the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement is another major achievement,” he said. These initiatives will open new avenues for supporting development in our countries as well as helping other developing nations, he added.